Anti-abortion was chosen after other rallying issues were rejected

Evidence

What message would bring the movement together? The men of Lynchburg considered a variety of unifying issues and themes. School prayer worked for some, but it tended to alienate the Catholics, who remembered all too well that, for many years, public schools had allowed only for Protestant prayers and Bible readings while excluding Catholic readings and practices. Bashing communists was fine, but even the Rockefeller Republicans could do that. Taking on “women’s liberation” was attractive, but the Equal Rights Amendment was already going down in flames. At last they landed upon the one surprising word that would supply the key to the political puzzle of the age: “abortion.” — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 254

Categorization

• SEED: Essay angle: the strategic, tactical origin of a moral movement — how issue selection, not moral conviction, launched the religious right.
• XREF: connects to: The religious right’s founding coalition was initially indifferent to abortion. — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 234; Proposed rallying issues for the Religious Right included gay rights before abortion — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the…, 120; The Religious Right needed a rallying issue besides racial segregation — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the…, 119 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Early Moral Majority insiders confirm abortion was not its founding issue #corroborates (0.92) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 113
• The Religious Right adopted abortion only after racial segregation failed to rally voters #corroborates (0.88) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 121
• The Religious Right’s abortion politics predate Roe and were chosen for strategic reasons #corroborates (0.85) — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 222
• Proposed rallying issues for the Religious Right included gay rights before abortion #corroborates (0.82) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 120
• The Religious Right needed a rallying issue besides racial segregation #expands (0.78) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 119
• The New Right founders launched with grievances unrelated to abortion #corroborates (0.75) — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 234